As the generation of technology increases, so does our availability for the usage of electronic tools. Some of our nation’s most popular electronic commodities over the past decades have been the Microsoft Office tools. The Microsoft Office tools, consisting of Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook, Access, and OneNote, have been dominant tools in the electronic venue of work. The first three tools listed are now available for mobile devices, such as iPads, iPhones, Windows Phones, and Android phones. As of May 15th, the Office tools have been sold to the tune of 27 million downloads on Apple devices, twice the selling amount of the month before. Microsoft has decided to use what they call a “freemium” pricing design, which is, they give you the ability to download and view documents, PowerPoints, and spreadsheets, free of charge. If you want the full power to edit or create documents, however, you need a Microsoft Office 365 subscription, monthly or yearly. To obtain a 30 day trial, you must register for one at www.office.com/try. The full charge is $9.99 a month and $99.99 a year. Besides the fact that you cannot multitask on an iPad, the Office Tools themselves function extraordinarily well, as the apps function fully well. The tools have modified buttons, larger ones for the tap of a finger instead of more miniscule icons for clicks of the computer mouse. All throughout the Office Tools, Microsoft has successfully calibrated one of its biggest successes
correctly onto other mobile devices. These tools are the real deal.
This whole affair of the blending of two major companies started when Microsoft needed a solution to a gap in its portfolio, the gap being a lack of mobility for its tools. That gap has finally been plugged with Microsoft putting its Office Tools onto mobile devices. While some had said that Microsoft Office was dying, this solution has definitely quieted their concerns, as Office has become a multi-platform tool. At the TechEd conference recently, Microsoft Office's general manager, Julie White, revealed that Microsoft had been downloaded an absolutely whopping 27 million times in the then 46 days since Microsoft released Office on Apple's iPad, showing that Office for iPad downloads have doubled since early April, as well. Microsoft has definitely profited greatly from this new adventure.
How have Apple and the other mobile devices gained from this new familiarity? With the addition of Office, the mobile devices now have more value, meaning that other investors will find value in smart phones as a work product. People are beginning to bring iPads and other mobile devices to work, instead of lugging bulky laptops. This is the beginning of a new era for Microsoft.
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microsoft:
A New Era
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ew era
-Alex M.